The Icing on the Cake

Angry Birds and Green Pigs

2012-02-01T22:41:00.004-05:00

Now, I am sure that I am not the only one out there who is clueless about Angry Birds, but I will admit that I had to do a little research and even asked a number of "experts" (namely, the four year olds at my preschool!) to figure out how to make this cake. The birthday boy's favorite characters in the game are the King Pig and the black bird. From what I can tell, that black bird is the best because he blows up! The one thing I wonder, though, is why those pigs are green instead of pink. hmmmmm.....

Thanks for a Great Semester!

2012-01-26T23:56:00.000-05:00

My son just ended the first semester of his junior year and we started thinking of a way to thank his teachers. So, of course, we naturally thought of cupcakes. But not just any cupcakes... subject-specific cupcakes!

This past semester he took Foods 1 and wanted to share with his teacher his favorite "cheese pun." Oh, and a few of his favorite foods too... tacos, spaghetti and bacon and eggs!

Spanish 2 was a challenge, but his teacher made it interesting and fun every day. That's certainly cause for a fiesta!

US History has a notorious reputation for being one of the hardest classes, but not in the hands of a masterful teacher who can bring the events of the American Revolution, the Civil War and World War II to life. I can't tell you how many topics we discussed on car trips and over the breakfast table. Not surprisingly, my son had enough ideas to decorate dozens of cupcakes for this teacher!

Last, but not least, a special treat for an Algebra II teacher who always goes above and beyond the call of duty. Here's to a terrific semester!

Blue Diaper Bag

2012-01-14T18:10:00.002-05:00

Tiny fingers, tiny toes

Little itty bitty clothes.

Teddy bears and smiles of joy

Welcome a bouncing baby boy.

This cake traveled from Raleigh to Charlotte to help celebrate the impending arrival of a new baby boy. I used the shower invitation from Tiny Prints as inspiration for this fun diaper bag cake. My favorite part was the teddy bear. I made the basic shape out of rice krispie treats and then piped chocolate buttercream fur on the outside. It smelled so yummy!

Underneath the blue fondant on the diaper bag were three layers of lemon cake and raspberry buttercream filling iced with vanilla buttercream... another yummy combination.

Helicopter Challenge

2012-01-08T12:47:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while I get to think more like an engineer than a cake designer, and this was definitely one of those times. I was asked to create a birthday cake using this model helicopter as inspiration. After a few architectural missteps, I was able to get rice krispie treats, some fondant and a few lollipop sticks into a fairly close likeness of the original model.

The birthday boy really liked it, and all the party guests enjoyed the combination of vanilla cake with mocha filling,

Golfer's Birthdays

2012-01-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

Three golf cakes for 60th birthday celebrations!

First, a cake featuring some of the birthday boy's favorite things: golf, the mountains, the Yankees and his ultimate dream car (the Jaguar XKE) turned into a golf cart.

Next, sixty sugar golf balls helped to surprise a golf enthusiast at The Angus Barn in Raleigh. It was very appropriate that on the day of his party there was a big high school golf tournament. Remarkably, even though we all spent the whole day together, no one spoiled the surprise!

Last, but not least, an edible golf cart to top a tower of 80 cupcakes, each featuring a white chocolate golf ball. I delivered these treats to Raleigh Country Club for a surprise birthday party.

One Cute Fuzzy Creature

2012-01-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

When my children were young, Beanie Babies were all the rage and I can remember driving all over the place to find them. As soon as a new one was released, everyone scrambled to be the first to own it! A few years after the craze had ended, I remember packing up a huge box of those creatures and storing them in our attic... ah, yes, the circle of life for a toy!

This cake was based on a toy that reminds me of a Beanie Baby... a YooHoo pink lemur that is the birthday girl's favorite little critter. Good thing I made the cake base for him. That was the only part that Taylor was willing to cut into!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T08:20:00.001-05:00

Well, another year has come and gone and it seems like 2011 was shorter than usual, doesn't it? One of my favorite things to do at the start of a new year is to clean out closets and cabinets. It feels so good to have everything organized and free of extra clutter.

I took a look at my unposted cake pictures from this past year and realized that I had a little de-cluttering to do in that department too! So, for the next few days, I'll try to post all the pictures that I apparently didn't have time to post last year.

Here's to a wonderful new year ahead - I hope it's the best one so far for each of you! Thanks for reading my blog!

Marj

Elephant First Birthday

2012-01-01T08:20:00.000-05:00

You know the old joke...

Q: What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence?
A: Time to get a new fence!

Okay, so here's one for you...

Q: What time is it when an elephant in a Tarheel T shirt sits on your Lilly Pullitzer cake?
A: It's Party Time, of course!

Barrett celebrated her first birthday with her very own vanilla smash cake while everyone else got a piece of the big vanilla cake. I wonder who got to eat the elephant?

Nutcracker Mouse

2011-12-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

We know the holidays are just around the corner when the Nutcracker comes to town! I made this birthday cake for a ballerina who will be a mouse in this year's production. Last year she was a gingerbread girl. Lollipops and sugar plums (well okay... gum drops) and sweet snow drifts complete the scene.

Knock 'em dead, Keeland! I bet you'll be the best dancing mouse ever!

Scooby Doo Meets Batman

2011-11-28T16:19:00.001-05:00

Holy Scooby Snacks, Batman, this dynamic duo has it all - brains, brawn and a flea collar. Send up the bat signal - Christian is four years old!

A fun old movie was the inspiration for this cake and a groovy birthday celebration. I was really happy with the way the villains and Shaggy turned out on the sides of the cake. They are all made of gum paste with hand drawn details.

Like, watch out, Batman. Here comes Scooby!

Gymnastics Cake

2011-11-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

A cake with sweet tumblers made for a fun gymnastics party complete with a little glitz for the birthday girl. The figures remind me of paper dolls but they are completely edible.

A Bonus Monster

2011-11-26T09:48:00.001-05:00

Here's an extra little monster that went with the big ones in the previous post... a smash monster for the birthday boy on his actual birthday!

Yummy Monsters

2011-11-19T17:43:00.001-05:00

I made these fuzzy buttercream monsters for a darling one year old who was celebrating his first birthday, Under all that "fur" were multiple layers of fudge marble cake and chocolate buttercream icing. The big blue guy was over 12" tall! The birthday boy's mom said she didn't want to let anyone cut into these cute fellows, but I sure hope they did cause they smelled so yummy!

Fall Floral Wedding Cake

2011-11-05T17:36:00.001-04:00

Sugar blooms in fall colors and sweet handmade pumpkins are the perfect decorations for a November wedding reception. I delivered this four-tier cake to The Stockroom at 230 in the heart of downtown Raleigh. The venue's brick walls and rustic wooden floors were the perfect backdrop for this cake iced in textured buttercream. I wish that I has remembered to take my camera to snap a picture after I delivered the cake.

The cascade of peonies, hydrangea, poppies, marguerite daisies, calla lilies, alstroemeria, butter cup, sweet pea, ivy and salvia took more than 25 hours to create. I felt like I was able to channel my inner "Sylvia Weinstock" as I worked. (If you are wondering "Who is Sylvia Weinstock?" click here!)

When this couple came for their tasting appointment, they liked everything they tried, so this cake was a combination of three different flavors: carrot cake with cream cheese filling, lemon cake with raspberry buttercream filling, and dark devil's food cake with mocha buttercream filling.

Phineas and Ferb

2011-11-05T17:00:00.001-04:00

I've never seen an episode of Phineas and Ferb, but my friend Mason really loves the show and wanted his birthday to feature these wacky characters. His favorite is Perry Platypus (for those of you are like me - Perry is the crazy blue guy on top!)

As far as I can tell, Phineas and Ferb spend a lot of time getting into mischief in their backyard. They have a tattle-tale sister who tries to get them into trouble, but always manage to wiggle out of it.

And Perry, the boys' pet platypus, masquerades as a secet agent wearing a dashing fedora. Not sure how that all fits into the storyline...

... but one of these days I am going to have some free time and I'm planning to watch an episode or two. In the meantime, I'm glad that Mason loved his birthday cake and had a fun celebration!

On the Night You Were Born

2011-10-09T19:24:00.000-04:00

On the night you were born,

the moon shone with such wonder

that the stars peeked in to see you

and the night wind whispered,

"Life will never be the same."

Because there had never been

anyone like you...

ever in the world.

What a beautiful way to start a story. No wonder Adrianna loves to read it! I used the images from this book by Nancy Tillman to create a special cake to help celebrate Adrianna's first birthday. Outside, the cake was cool and icy. But inside was a yummy red velvet cake with salted caramel buttercream filling.

The birthday girl's favorite characters in the book are the polar bears. I loved the beautiful red cardinal and the smiling moon. I used rice krispie treats for the shape of the igloo. Then I coated it with clear sanding sugar... lots of it! In fact, I used two whole containers of the sweet, sparkly stuff on this cake.

Adrianna's smash cake was a special treat just for her with a polar bear and sweet icebergs. I hope she had a good time digging in!

Jungle Baby

2011-09-18T07:56:00.001-04:00

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion (and the baby) sleep tonight! A-wee-e-e-e-we-um-um-a-way.. (Sorry! I just couldn't help myself.)

Now that you are humming along with me, you can imagine how yummy this cake was for a recent baby shower. It was Devil's Food chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream icing. Apparently, it was quite a hit at the party!

I copied the sweet jungle critters straight off the new little one's bedding. Such a cute room!

Sweet Skateboard

2011-09-17T21:05:00.001-04:00

Okay, as a skating newbie, I decided I had to do a little research in order to make this cake. In fact, the only time I was ever on a skateboard (many, many years ago!) I fell off, sprained my wrist, and had to postpone my cello recital. Oh yes, I was cool!

What I discovered is that skaters have a language all their own. There are even dictionaries filled with skate slang. So, without further ado, let me describe for you how I "busted a trick" while making this cake. I used sugar paste to make the board and went "old school" with the buttercream icing. In order to prevent the skateboard from catching some "air" I anchored it with a few skewers, but I did make sure I added the logos of the birthday boy's favorite skate brands - DC and Tony Hawk. I hope that Connor is really "stoked" when he sees his cake.

Princess Ariel

2011-09-17T20:28:00.000-04:00

The Little Mermaid - a classic theme for little girl's birthdays and one that I never get tired of! I've done a lot of these cakes, but each one is unique because of the wide variety of mermaid figurines that my young friends bring to me to top their cakes. This Ariel is checking out her beautiful reflection in a scallop compact mirror!

Green Beret

2011-09-16T15:04:00.002-04:00

This cake combines the groom's occupation and an inside joke between the newlywed couple. The sugar groom is wearing his green beret uniform and standing on a chocolate cake covered in camo buttercream and sweet sand. I recreated the Special Forces logo using sugar paste for the front of the cake and the port-o-potty was made of rice krispie treats and covered in fondant.

Black Beauty

2011-09-11T07:33:00.000-04:00

Black Beauty is waiting patiently in her stable for the birthday girl to blow out the candles and cut into this yummy cake... Devil's Food chocolate with raspberry buttercream filling. The little bunny peeking under the fence was made just for the birthday girl. Her past two birthday cakes have all had rabbits on them. When she decided to have a horse-themed party this year, I knew that I'd have to include a bunny somewhere too!

A Day at the Beach

2011-09-06T21:47:00.000-04:00

Summer time - sand between your toes, waves lapping at the shore, and, in the case of Maddie and Jack, another birthday celebration! I have had the priviledge of making all three of their cakes, and I really feel like I have gotten to know them. This year these twins were in agreement that the beach was where they wanted to party.

Maddie is really into Hello Kitty and Jack loves Lightening McQueen. They both love sea creatures like this octopus and hermit crab.

My favorite part of the cake was the sand castle. I started with rice krispie treats to make the shape. Then I painted it with sugar gel and coated it with turbinado sugar to make it look like the real thing.

I loved delivering this cake and seeing the looks on Jack and Maddie's faces when they saw it. They both just wanted to touch it - the ultimate compliment!

Click here to see Jack and Maddie's first birthday cake - Thing one and Thing Two. Click here and here to see their second birthday cake full of children's book characters and The Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes.

Cake Camp

2011-09-01T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've thought about hosting "Cake Camp" for years... and it's finally happened! It is a great way to share two things I love - kids and cake decorating. Not that I have plans to do this on a large scale anytime soon, but I had a great time this summer with two creative former preschool students. Here's what went down when we teamed up.

Straight from the creative mind of my friend AB - a Hogwarts tiger (animagus?) at the beach. She combined her favorite animal and her favorite vacation spot with her love for Harry Potter in a fun, interesting way. Her tiger looked like he might have just apparated to this beach locale.

She had a great time making her tiger, tasting the scraps of fondant (oh, yeah!) and molding chocolate shells.

Once the tiger cake was finished, we tackled a "cooking" project - making pizza! First, the raspberry marinara sauce.

Then a whole lot of toppings... fruit roll up pepperoni, fondant peppers, olives (AB's favorite) and mushrooms. But the best were the bits of "sausage" made of cake truffles. We combined cake crumbs with a bit of buttercream, and, voila, crumbled sausage. So tasty and surprisingly realistic! A real pizza box was the finishing touch.

My next student was a little younger, but no less creative. We tackled several cupcake projects - the aliens from Toy Story, Smurfette and a whole bunch of flowers. Fondant flowers are the perfect thing for little hands. They can be completely successful all by themselves. Look at these beauties!

The aliens were really easy too - we used a variety of cutters in different shapes and before we knew it, we'd made aliens that looked pretty professional!

One of the best parts of making cupcakes is filling the centers with yummy flavors. The little bites of cake that are scooped out of the center are delicious treats while you work.

And here are the finished cupcakes. Pretty cute!

Scooby Dooby DOO...

2011-08-16T10:51:00.003-04:00

WHERE ARE YOU?

Shaggy: Like, there's an invisible monster in a haunted swamp!

Velma: Jinkies!

Freddy: Let's split up, gang! Shaggy and Scooby, go check out that haunted house. I'll look for clues in the forest.

Scooby: Ruh roh, Raggy!

Shaggy: Like, no way, man!

Daphne: Would you do it for a Scooby snack?

Scooby: Scooby dooby doo!!

Shaggy: I'm coming to help ya, Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal!

Velma: Shaggy, we're here to solve a mystery.

Shaggy: Like, wow, look at all those fingerprints.

Daphne: Wait a minute! Ghosts can't leave fingerprints.

Freddy: That's right! It wasn't a ghost at all. It was Mr. Crumb. He was trying to scare us away so he could have the whole cake for himself.

Mr. Crumb: And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you kids!

Scrapbook Cupcakes

2011-08-14T10:20:00.000-04:00

You can tell a lot about a person with a batch of cupcakes. For instance, this batch says that the recipient graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, loves springtime and road trips to the beach, and has a passion for strawberries. The pink cupcakes are strawberry cake. They smelled terrific and fruity!

Ahoy, Forty!

2011-08-14T10:07:00.001-04:00

Arrrgh! When a big birthday looms for an ECU grad, a sweet treasure map marks the spot where the party starts. This cake smelled like a Reese's cup - 4 layers of chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream filling sandwiched in between.

Death Star

2011-07-23T10:07:00.001-04:00

Lego and Star Wars - a very fun combo for a cool kid turning five. I used a ball pan to mold rice krispie treats into the shape of the Death Star for the topper on this 8" vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream icing.

How do you eat such a treat?

"Use the fork (um, Force), Luke!"

Designer Style

2011-07-16T20:59:00.005-04:00

Now THIS is the way to celebrate a 40th birthday - in designer style at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, NC. I mean, if you have to turn 40, you might as well do it at a five star resort! This cake had three of the birthday girl's favorite flavors. The bottom was lemon cake, the middle was red velvet and the top was three layers of carrot cake.

The birthday girl is quite the fashionista and I included a lot of her favorite designers on the shopping bags, shoes, purse and jewelry on this cake. I had so much fun making all these sugar pieces. It sort of made me want to go shopping!

I discovered that a bit of gum paste dissolved in a little vodka makes a very nice paint for edible shoes. When it dries it gives the finished piece the look of real leather. I used a different technique for the purse. I dusted it with a little brown, orange and magenta petal dust to get the shading the way I wanted it. Then I passed it through the steam from my trusty tea pot and set the colors. It also made the fondant look a little more like real leather.

Everything on this cake was edible except the brooch in the Tiffany's box - that was a big sparkly button. To make the purse and the shopping bags, I started with the basic shape made of rice krispie treats and then added fondant and gum paste details.

After the party I got a nice email from the birthday girl. She wrote:

"Everyone loved the cake Especially the staff at Umstead. Once again you have outdone yourself. It was fabulous and just perfect."

Thanks for letting me be a part of the celebration!

Gnomeo and Juliet

2011-07-15T19:26:00.000-04:00

Q: What do you get when you mix the greatest love story ever told with a bunch of garden gnomes, a few layers of pound cake and chocolate buttercream?

A: One seriously yummy birthday celebration!

Of course, I had to make the title characters, but Gnomeo's pet mushroom and Cupid's flower are both on the cake too. The cake was made for a special celebration during a family vacation at the beach.

After the party I got the nicest note from the birthday girl's mom:

There are not enough ways to say thank you! The expression on her face was absolutely priceless when she saw her cake. And it is delicious as well. THANK YOU!
Mandy

That's what it's all about!

Piggies!

2011-07-12T18:12:00.000-04:00

Three cute piggies sitting in a bed of purple flowers on a dozen cupcakes for a fun birthday celebration. The one rolling in the grass is my favorite!

Well, it was bound to happen...

2011-07-10T22:37:00.002-04:00

... a cake disaster, that is. I guess if you do cakes long enough, it will happen sooner or later. I was just hoping it would be later... much later. At least I hoped it wouldn't happen with a wedding cake, and especially not a wedding cake for the daughter of one of my best friends.

There's not even a picture of the cake to show you. I was planning to take one after I delivered it. The best I can do is describe it for you: Imagine three tiers of almond cake with chocolate chip cream cheese filling and soft celery-green buttercream icing. The bottom tier and the extra tall top tier were completely covered in soft pink sugar blossoms - more than 600 of them! There were two big Carolina blue fondant bows and an Old Well topper (both bride and groom are UNC grads) and my favorite part of the cake - a pair of sugar blue birds. I was really pleased with the way it turned out.

On my way to deliver the cake (just two hours before the wedding), another driver cut me off and stopped short right in front of me. I slowed as gently as I could, but finally had to hit the brake to avoid hitting him. And that's when I heard it. That tell-tale squishy "splat" that could only mean one thing. I turned around and my worst fears were confirmed: two tiers of cake upside down in the back of my minivan and the third tier ripped in half. Sugar flowers were strewn about like little shards of windshield glass at an accident scene. My daughter and I surveyed the wreckage in disbelief and then went into "emergency mode." The good news was that I had delivered three extra round cakes to the country club the night before to make sure that there was enough cake to go around. What a life saver!

When we got to the club, my daughter started picking sugar flowers out of the buttercream on the ruined cake while I figured out how to stack the extra round cakes and started sticking flowers on the new tiers. The two little sugar birds that I had made survived the ordeal and, fortunately, I brough some extra fondant with me and was able to repair one of the two bows that were on the original cake. We ended up missing the ceremony, but there was a cake in place by the time the reception started. It wasn't as tall or as gorgeous as the original one, but it still looked nice and tasted yummy. We even earned kudos from the chef and manager at the club for staying calm. Apparently this kind of thing happens more often than I realized!

We got so many compliments on the way the cake tasted and there were some wedding guests that didn't even realize that anything had happened. So, like Apollo 13, this cake adventure turned out to be a "successful failure." But, really, it's not an adventure I want to relive anytime soon. As soon as the photographer's proofs come back, I'll post a picture of cake #2.

Muchas Gracias

2011-06-28T19:07:00.002-04:00

I made these cupcakes for one of my daughter's favorite teachers. She has been in his class from Spanish I all the way through AP Spanish. Muchas gracias, Sr. Ross, por ser un excelente maestro!

These marble cupcakes are filled with a dollop of chocolate Kahlua filling and topped with cinnamon buttercream... all the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate. Esperamos que disfrute de sus pastelitos!

Tener unas vacaciones de verano divertido!

School's Out...

2011-06-25T21:38:00.002-04:00

...forever!

(with apologies to Alice Cooper)

But, really, school IS out for one teacher who celebrated her retirement today at Winston's Grille in Raleigh.

It was hard to choose which part of this creation was my favorite. I was tickled with how realistic the edible eraser looked. Does anyone else remember how thrilling it was to take the erasers out and clap the dust out of them for the teacher?

And I really liked the way the composition book looked. I chopped up the pink sponge square that I use when I make gum paste flowers and used it to stamp the marbly design on the fondant book cover with food color paint. So now I have to get a new sponge square, but it was totally worth it.

Did you ever get in trouble for chewing on a pencil? Well, these No. 2's are made for chewing!

I delivered this cake just before the party started and got a huge kick out of the reaction it got. Thanks for making me feel like a rock star, everyone. Hope the party was lots of fun!

Preschool Graduation Cupcakes

2011-06-22T10:56:00.001-04:00

A dozen cuties graduated from the transitional kindergarten class at my preschool several weeks ago. We sent them out into the world of "big school" with just a few words of wisdom and a cupcake. (Somehow that description makes me think of the hobos in cartoons with a bandana tied to a stick - ha!)

Raven's Graduation

2011-06-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

Fifth grade graduation was last week at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh and it was a time to celebrate! The school mascot peered over the edge of his nest as he presided over the festivities for one of those students. That nest smelled fantastic. It was molded of rice krispie treats and covered in chocolate and toasted coconut. The cake was pretty yummy too - three layers of carrot cake covered in buttercream icing. Definitely worthy of an A+!

Way to go, Graduate!

2011-06-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

A cake for a recent high school grad who is headed to Clemson in the fall. The stack of books was all vanilla cake, and I made 90 cupcakes in assorted flavors to go with it. About halfway through cutting the paw prints out by hand, I realized that I probably should have invested in a paw shaped cutter! Nevertheless, I was pleased with the way these looked all together and the graduate was so surprised when I delivered everything to her party. Congratulations, Haley!

Sugar Pups

2011-06-06T07:50:00.000-04:00

These cute doggies drove all the way to Pennsylvania to be part of a wedding celebration. I made them for the sister of the bride as a surprise for the newlyweds. Not sure if the real canines got invited to the wedding, but the bakery that made the wedding cake baked a small cake for these pups to sit on at the reception.

State Champs!

2011-06-06T07:43:00.000-04:00

A cake to celebrate the end of a terrific golf season! I have spent a lot of time this spring watching the Leesville Road High School boys dominate the Cap 8 conference and NC high school golf. (Now you know why my posts have been so sporadic!) We met to celebrate all of their accomplishments last week, but especially their big win at the NC 4A State Championships. Way to go, Pride!

I made a Devil's Food chocolate cake for some...

... and cupcakes for others. These are carrot cake with coconut walnut cream cheese filling and marble cake dipped in sugar sand. The golf balls are white chocolate.

The giant golf ball was rice krispie treats covered in buttercream and fondant. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Tinga Tinga Birthday Cake

2011-06-05T07:41:00.000-04:00

Okay, all you PBS watchers... here's a cake based on the colorful children's show Tinga Tinga Tales. I love the way the writers of this show incorporate traditional African folk tales with music and the gorgeous patterns and designs of tingatinga art from Tanzania. This birthday treat was a 10" vanilla cake with oreos and cream filling. All the animals were made of sugar. Hopefully they captured the excitement of their TV counterparts.

Why do monkeys swing in the trees?

Why does hippo have no hair?

Why does lion RRROAR?

Why does elephant have a trunk? Why does tortoise have a broken shell?

You'll just have to watch to find out!

Hocus Pocus

2011-05-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

Abracadabra! Chocolate coins, edible card tricks and a rabbit in a hat... everything you need for a fun magic birthday party. Two tiers of red velvet cake filled with yummy caramel buttercream. This truly was a magic cake. How do I know? At the party, I heard that it performed a "vanishing act." (tee hee)

This Cake Rocks!

2011-05-15T15:10:00.000-04:00

One of my daughter's closest friends graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill last weekend with a degree in (you guessed it) Geology! This cake was a surprise for her after the ceremony. There's a chocolate cake with mocha buttercream under that big pile of rocks. And, speaking of rocks, they are made of cake truffles covered in fondant. I crumbled a whole chocolate cake and mixed it with buttercream to make "cake dough" that I used to mold into rock shapes... sooo yummy!

Bears and Babies

2011-05-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

A simple way to welcome a new little one to world - yummy treats with cute faces! These chocolate fudge cupcakes were filled with peanut butter buttercream and iced with vanilla and chocolate buttercream.

Strike!

2011-05-04T07:33:00.000-04:00

I made this cake for a fun birthday party at Sparians, a bowling boutique and bistro in North Hills. Lemon cake with cream cheese filling. I hope when the party was over that the birthday girl had a few slices to "spare" because leftovers are always the best part!

Favorite Things

2011-05-03T10:41:00.002-04:00

This red velvet cake helped celebrate all the favorites for one lucky birthday girl last weekend. She was channeling her "inner Oprah" and designed a party that highlighted all the things she loves. They started by eating barbeque and fries at The Pit in downtown Raleigh.

My version was made of toasted shredded coconut on a cupcake "bun." The fries are pound cake. I was so pleased with the way these turned out. It made me want a pulled pork sandwich!

After lunch, the party moved to the mall for a little shopping.

Anyone for a trip to J.Crew? This shopping bag won't hold much, but tastes way better than an ordinary paper bag because it's made of rice krispie treats.

The party finished up at Sunset Slush for a little something cool and creamy to go with the cake.

My version was buttercream with a coating of sanding sugar to make it sparkle.

The last of Chaz's favorites was a pair of ballet slippers to represent her love of dance. I heard she had a blast at her party. Next year, I may have to borrow her idea for my own birthday!

It's a hoot!

2011-04-22T12:14:00.000-04:00

Whoooo loves first birthday celebrations? I do, that's who! And my favorite part is making the little smash cake for the guest of honor. There's just something about a mini treat that gets me every time. Take this one, for example:

The theme of this party was owls, and the birthday boy's mom asked me to re-create an owl cake I made several months ago. Her favorite part of that cake was the sugar caterpillar, so I used that as the inspiration for this little stump smash cake. Here's what it looked like all together:

Birthday Train No. 4

2011-04-22T09:18:00.000-04:00

Attention, ladies and gentlemen! Now arriving at the station: the Birthday Cake Express bound for Austin's 4th Birthday Celebration with stops at Ice Cream Gulch and Blow-out-the-Candles Valley. All aboard! Tickets, please...

We are now passing through Rice Krispie Tunnel. Just a few more minutes and we'll be arriving at our final destination. Happy Birthday, Austin!

Doctor's Day Off

2011-04-19T09:07:00.000-04:00

Just what the doctor ordered for his day off - a round of golf followed by a yummy chocolate fudge cake. Guaranteed to cure what ails ya! Hope the birthday boy had a blast!

The close up picture shows the crocodile pattern in the fondant on the doctor's bag. I used a texture mat designed for scrapbooking to create the design... love those things! Click on the picture to enlarge it in case it's hard to see the pattern.

Three Puppies

2011-04-12T20:52:00.001-04:00

Don't you just love a cake that responds to commands? Almost like it's been to cake "Obedience School!"

"Sit!"

"Speak!"

"Lay down!"

Now "Celebrate!" Yup, it has that command down pat... "Good cake!"

A Lego Birthday Bash

2011-04-12T20:38:00.002-04:00

Here's to Mason - a big fan of legos who was turning eight. Just the right number of candles to put into a giant edible lego block... and, so, a cake design was born. These 5" building blocks were made of yummy rice cereal treats and covered in buttercream and fondant. All the other lego blocks and the red lego ninja were made of sugar paste.

Mason's mom told me that one of the party guests asked Mason if his cake was made by the "Cake Boss." I love it!

April Fools!

2011-04-01T07:19:00.001-04:00

The teachers at my preschool have a wonderful tradition. We draw names at the beginning of the year and bring in goodies to celebrate each other's birthdays. Fun! But sometimes we get tired of sweet treats. So I decided to celebrate with more savory goodies today.

I cooked up a big pot of spaghetti and ordered some yummy lo mein.

And what celebration is complete without fries and popcorn?

APRIL FOOLS! (Yup - it's all cake!)

Tow Mater

2011-03-19T16:29:00.000-04:00

"My name is Mater, like tuh-mater, but without the tuh."

Of all the characters in the movie Cars, my very favorite one is Mater. Why? Because I think Larry the Cable Guy is hilarious. In fact, I think he is so funny that I once sang my own Larry the Cable Guy-style Christmas carol on the radio to win tickets to his concert. And they were really good seats too! So... when I was asked to make a Mater cake - woo hee - I was so excited!

When I got finished with this cake I was "happier 'n a tornado in a trailer park!" The only problem is that I like this cake so much that I really don't want to deliver it to the party where people are going to CUT it! Maybe they'll like it so much that they'll just eat the ice cream and save Mater. (Nah, probably not... oh well.)

"I'm on one of them there special diets. I am a precisional instrument of speed and aeromatics." This cake, however, is a yummy combination of vanilla cake, chocolate buttercream and graham cracker crumbs. Kind of reminds me of a huge s'more.

"We'll talk later, Mater... hehe - later, Mater - that's funny! Git-R-Done!"

Wild Birthday

2011-03-18T07:16:00.004-04:00

Imagine a birthday celebration that is part science lesson and part safari. That's what my friend Joshua had last weekend when Dan Breeding came to his party. Dan is the man behind Wild Animal Encounters and he is famous for his animal parties. Click on the link to see more. I haven't seen Dan in person yet, but I've seen the pictures and heard the tales. One of these days, I'll get to meet him and his animal friends. In the meantime, I'll just keep making cakes for the parties!

Here's the latest one. It's a big fudge marble cake with peanut butter filling and buttercream "swamp water" icing. Dan and Joshua are riding on Auggie, Dan's 7 foot alligator, along with Maddy, a black and white ruffed lemur from Madagascar. Auggie was sculpted from rice cereal treats and covered with fondant. The rest is sugar paste.

I was so excited that Dan himself commented on a picture of this cake on Facebook. He said it was one of his favorite cakes - and he sees a lot of 'em! This is the second cake I have made for a Wild Animal Encounters party. Click here to see the first one.

Luck o' the Irish

2011-03-16T22:51:00.001-04:00

If you catch a leprechaun, so the story's told,

You will be rewarded with the wee one's pot o' gold!

Kind of like winning the Irish lottery, huh? Well, here's hoping that you're at least lucky enough for a bite o' this beauty... vanilla cake with Bailey's Irish Cream filling and chocolate bark. What better way to wish someone "Top o' the mornin'?"

Manicure Party

2011-03-08T07:31:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't love a little pampering on their birthday? I know my own idea of heaven is soaking my feet in a bubbly, warm pedicure tub. I made this giant bottle of teal nail polish for a fun girlie birthday celebration at the salon. My favorite part was the sugar nail file - the edible glitter made the surface look just like a real file!

The polish bottle was cake and the cap was rice krispie treats - all covered in fondant. The 10" round bottom cake was covered in buttercream to achieve the cotton ball look.

Seussical Sweets

2011-03-07T07:26:00.002-05:00

If you have never read the Cake Wrecks blog, should subscribe right this very minute... extremely creative writing and some crazy baked goods! On Sundays, they post "Sunday Sweets," that is to say, cakes that are not a wreck. And one of my cakes was on this week! Here's the link to the post:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2011/03/seussical-sunday-sweets.html

The post showed my Thing One and Thing Two birthday cake, still one of my favorites, along with a bunch of really great Seuss-themed cakes made by some really talented cake people. I was thrilled to be included with them! Check out the first birthday cake based on "Oh, the Places You'll Go." I love that one!

Onesie Cake

2011-02-24T19:16:00.000-05:00

Is there anything more fun than showering a mom-to-be with goodies for her bundle of joy? I made this cake for a group of folks who all work together at Quintiles. I put the company logo on the onesie and the guest of honor's favorite team on the toys. Go Heels!

Baby Owl

2011-02-24T18:59:00.007-05:00

How cute is this baby quilt? Almost makes me want to decorate another nursery...

Nah...I'll just stick with decorating cakes instead!

I love how this chocolate fudge cake with peanut butter buttercream filling turned out. In this photo, it's hard to see the stitching around the edge of each sugar piece, but in real life, it was very "quilty" looking.

Sailboat Baby Shower

2011-02-24T18:53:00.001-05:00

This cake with matching cupcakes offered lots of flavor combinations to the shower guests, and featured decorations to match the new little one's nursery.

Tangled

2011-02-20T11:22:00.001-05:00

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair... and get a fork cause we're having cake! It's lemon cake with raspberry buttercream filling between the layers - mmmm.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder..."

Poor Flynn! His smolder is definitely broken. Might as well just have some cake!

On top of spaghetti...

2011-02-15T16:56:00.000-05:00

... all covered with cheese...

But wait! This bowl of pasta is covered in white chocolate instead. Mmmm! And the raspberry buttercream "sauce" isn't anything to sneeze at... so no losing these poor meatballs!

Cinderelly

2011-02-14T17:22:00.004-05:00

We can do it, we can do it

We can help our Cinderelly

We can make her dress so pretty

There's nothing to it, really...

Can't you just hear the little mice singing? I am not sure who was more excited about this cake - me or the birthday girl. I spent the whole week humming that tune as I worked! Those little mice are such great characters.

Leave the sewing to the women

You go get some trimmin'

Cinderelly's cake was red velvet with caramel buttercream filling and buttercream icing in just the right shade for a princess!

When dancing at the ball

She'll be more beautiful than all

In the lovely dress we'll make for Cinderelly!

Mickey and Minnie

2011-02-14T16:51:00.000-05:00

These cakes were the perfect thing for two friends sharing a birthday party... one yummy 5" cake for each of them and matching cupcakes for all the party guests.

Fairy Cakes

2011-02-03T07:24:00.001-05:00

Few folk have seen a fairy,

But I found these for you

If you believe with all your might

They'll make your dreams come true!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

2011-01-27T21:35:00.001-05:00

Weeeee're...... off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz...

I can't tell you how excited I was to create this cake because the Wizard of Oz is truly one of my all-time childhood favorites. Follow the yellow brick road through the poppies and straight on to the Emerald City. Under the rainbow was Red Velvet cake with caramel buttercream filling... sweet enough to tame the angriest flying monkey!

One of the best parts - the house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East!

Toto is sitting in Dorothy's basket made of rice krispie treats and fondant. Click your heels together three times and say it with me: "There's no treat like cake! There's no treat like cake! There's no treat like cake!"

Say It Ain't Snow!

2011-01-11T15:57:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, trapped inside the house on a snow day in North Carolina, and all I am thinking is "Let it melt, let it melt, let it melt!" We never have enough snow to really have any fun, and we always miss our Spring Break because of all the missed days that we have to make up.

So, ladies and gentlemen, in honor of the nice glazing of ice outside, and in hopeful anticipation of the warm-up tomorrow, I present: "Melty the Snowman!"

A Bit o' the Bubbly

2011-01-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

A bottle of chilled champagne is just what you need to celebrate a 21st birthday. Instead of popping the cork, however, this birthday girl cut into the bucket. It was Devil's Food chocolate with peanut butter buttercream filling.

I used rock candy for the ice and I was impressed with how realistic it looked surrounding the bottle made of rice krispie treats and fondant. It was also impressed with how heavy rock candy is. This picture shows my second attempt at this cake... the first one was a total flop! The candy was so heavy that it made the cake lean to one side and, eventually, fall over completely. It looked like the cake had been drinking too much champagne! Thankfully, I made the cake for a good friend's daughter and I had enough time to re-make it (with some architecture inside the cake the second time around) before the party.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T15:28:00.000-05:00

Ho Ho Ho! Warm wishes for the happiest holiday!

December Graduations

2010-12-22T18:56:00.002-05:00

It's celebration time here in North Carolina for mid-year grads!

I got to make cakes for two terrific girls who were finishing up their college careers. First, a NCSU grad who is headed off to law school. Her cake is vanilla with a layer of chocolate buttercream filling.

Her dogs, Koby and Mason, got to share the big day - at least on the cake!

Next, a pink hard hat for an architecture major at UNC-Greensboro. Here's hoping that all of her projects are as sweet as these vanilla cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla buttercream!

Congratulations, girls!

Open Season on Cakes

2010-12-22T18:36:00.001-05:00

It's deer season in North Carolina... but who needs a shotgun when you can just roast marshmallows with the deer? I made this cake for one of my favorite former preschool students who was turning 15. (Yikes!) He is a real outdoorsman, but he's also a true gentleman. So, of course, he has offered the deer his protective vest and a nice toasty treat. Such a nice boy!

Happy Birthday, Coleman!

Wedding Gifts

2010-12-18T16:36:00.002-05:00

Wall-to-wall gifts for a room-to-room bridal shower. I felt like I was making dollhouse miniatures! The close up pictures show the detail of the sugar pieces.

I painted on a gum paste canvas with edible watercolors!

You can never go wrong with giving a toaster as a gift.

Hidden beneath the mountain of presents was a vanilla cake with mocha filling and buttercream icing.

Down on the LEGO Farm

2010-12-16T09:45:00.001-05:00

Yee haw! Devils' Food cake with raspberry buttercream filling makes all the farm hands cheer. Combine that with some edible LEGO characters and you have a barnyard birthday party for a terrific five year old. The younger guests enjoyed vanilla cupcakes with chocolate fudge filling.

This sugar chicken was my favorite part of the cake!

Put Me In, Coach!

2010-11-27T07:52:00.002-05:00

In honor of all the festivities this holiday weekend, here's a little cake that will get you into the action. I made it for a true fan of the game who was celebrating her 50th birthday. Time to drop back and punt, you say? Never! 50 is definitely the new "1st and 10!"

Little Leaves

2010-11-16T20:08:00.001-05:00

Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes made for a fall baby shower. Inspiration for the design came from the party invitation by Tiny Prints. How cute is that baby face peeking over the edge of the hammock?

Boy, Oh, Boy!

2010-11-16T20:07:00.001-05:00

Old-fashioned toys and a cute, blue pram help celebrate the impending arrival of a new little one.

I just love Tiny Prints invitations. This was another cake inspired by one of their designs. Want to see more? Check out http://www.tinyprints.com/.

Pretty Pink Palace

2010-11-14T08:44:00.001-05:00

If there is anything more girlie than a pink castle cake, then it's a sugar princess wearing her signature accessory - pearls! This cake has both and was made for a terrific little friend who really does wear pearls every day.

I donated a custom birthday cake to the silent auction at my preschool last year. This was what I made for the winner. Under all that buttercream grass was vanilla cake with chocolate chip filling. The castle was just enough for the birthday girl to take home and enjoy the next day with towers made of Rice Krispie treats and ice cream cones.

Judge me by my size, do you?

2010-11-12T06:58:00.002-05:00

Birthday cake you seek. Hmmmmm.

Use the force and find it, you will.

Fear is the path to the dark side... but fudge marble is the way to birthday bliss.

Use the force and happy you shall be.

May the forks be with you...

Cupcake Theater - Halloween Edition

2010-10-25T13:32:00.007-04:00

Fog rises from the graveyard.

A full moon casts shadows across the barren ground.

A lone wolf howls in the distance. (A-wooooooo!)

Terrifying, isn't it?

From the shadows emerges a horrifying sight.
Two huge eyes glow in the dim light. (shudder!)

Suddenly, two more ghouls appear...

Then more!
The attack of the dreaded String Monsters has begun. Ahhhhh!

But wait! They have joined forces with an even more frightening enemy- the Fur Balls.

(What's next? Dust Bunnies??)

Just looking at these guys makes my hair stand on end.

Closer and closer the evil ones approach. (cue the demonic organ music...)

They are so close, I can smell their breath (raspberry, actually, and not that bad - but I digress)...
more howling, more organ music.........

Who can save us?

(insert gory battle scene here: blood, guts, buttercream - oh, the horror!)

Sweet victory! Bwhaaa haa haa haa haa! Happy Halloween!

Creepcakes

2010-10-25T12:15:00.000-04:00

Okay, so not that creepy. They're actually kinda cute. Really anything with gummy fangs can't be all bad. But creepcakes sounds Halloween-y, doesn't it? And they ARE blood red velvet cake... oooh, creepy!

A Bald Head Island Wedding

2010-10-14T19:44:00.002-04:00

My cousin had a beautiful wedding on Bald Head Island at the beginning of October and asked me to make a cake to accompany a fun, beachfront lobster bake. The result? Lobster Love!

Since I had never been over to Bald Head on the ferry (the only way to get there!), I wasn't sure how to transport a cake. The caterer baked and iced the cake for me and delivered it to the reception. That left me the fun part - the decorating! My family helped me carry carefully packed sugar lobsters, blue hydrangea and silver chocolate shells on the boat. We got a few quizzical looks, but it all arrived safely and got onto the cake in time for a great party.

Purse for a Bride

2010-10-10T17:21:00.002-04:00

This quilted purse was created as an edible centerpiece for a bridal shower. It featured the bride's phone and keys made out of sugar in addition to the purse cake with edible chain handle. Under the quilted fondant were three layers of vanilla cake with raspberry buttercream filling.

Five Green Speckled Frogs

2010-10-08T22:00:00.001-04:00

Five green and speckled frogs...

Sat on a speckled log...

Eating the most delicious bugs... yyuummm yyuummm!

One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool...

Then there were four green speckled frogs... rrribbit, rrribbit!

One of my favorite children's songs... once a preschool teacher, always a preschool teacher!

Expecto Patronum!

2010-10-01T07:04:00.001-04:00

Dementors!

At Hogwarts!

Expecto patronum!

This cake captures the moment just before Harry's silvery stag patronus starts to form and drives away the evil dementors. Why the moment just before? Because, in making this cake, I learned how hard it is to create a sugar patronus.

First I tried the make one out of sugar paste. But it was too heavy and broke poor Harry's arm. (I needed that charm that re-grows bones to fix it - ha ha!)

Then I got the brilliant idea to use cotton candy. But the lovely humidity here in North Carolina created a vanishing spell and dissolved my patronus into a limp cobweb. Not exactly the most threatening-looking patronus, huh?

So, I settled for letting the birthday boy use his powers of imagination. That and chocolate... because, of course, chocolate is what you need after an encounter with a dementor. Good thing this is a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate buttercream. It's sure to get all those party guests back in a festive mood!

A special request from the birthday boy - the number 7 on Harry's robe for his seventh birthday!

A Wine Lover's Cake

2010-09-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

Chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream - I wonder what wine pairs well with that?

Elmo!

2010-09-28T16:34:00.000-04:00

Furry, lovable, tasty... Elmo!

Mad for Plaid

2010-09-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

October leaves are lovely

They rustle when I run

Sometimes I make a heap

And jump in them for fun!

And sometimes I just put them on a cake... Devil's Food chocolate with plaid buttercream design. Makes me think of cool weather and fuzzy sweaters!

Family Tree (Stumps!)

2010-09-24T20:38:00.004-04:00

Six sweet siblings + six cute tree stumps = enough cake for an entire crowd at a fun family reunion!

Each "branch" of this family has it's own confection for the celebration. Flavors include almond cake with amaretto filling, fudge marble cake with raspberry buttercream filling, and vanilla cake with caramel filling - and all are iced in chocolate buttercream "bark."

Toes in the Sand

2010-09-24T15:40:00.001-04:00

A sweet treat for a girl's weekend at the lake... jumbo fudge marble cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream.

S'mores, Anyone?

2010-09-24T14:14:00.000-04:00

Rocket is ready for the campfire with his marshmallow on a stick. Now all we need is a box of graham crackers and a Hershey's bar... or we could just cut into the cake. It's chocolate fudge with Oreos and cream filling.

Tooth Doctor

2010-09-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

A birthday cake for - you guessed it - a dentist! My favorite part of this cake is the "toothpaste" around the base.

First Communion

2010-09-22T06:03:00.001-04:00

I made this cake for a young friend who loves chocolate. His cake was chocolate with yummy chocolate filling. To accomodate non-chocolate lovers at the party I baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes to go with the cake, but I added just a touch of chocolate to each one. The gold balls on top are actually chocolate candies rolled in edible gold dust. They were a huge hit with all the kids!

Blue Thunder

2010-09-19T07:46:00.002-04:00

Although I have never been to the Monster Truck Jam I suddenly have an urge to TYPE IN ALL CAPS and to SMASH INTO SOMETHING...because it's BIG and LOUD and MUDDY! This birthday CAKE is JUST LIKE THAT, only sweeter.

Blue Thunder is Built Ford Tough out of Rice Krispie Treats and the crushed cars are made of sugar paste. Beck's cake was fudge marble with chocolate buttercream filling and the dirt was pretty yummy too - cake crumbs and chocolate buttercream. I delivered Blue Thunder to Pump It Up in Raleigh and I loved seeing the birthday boy's reaction to his cake!

First Date

2010-09-18T10:02:00.000-04:00

This summer my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary. So I decided to take them back to where it all began, sugar-style... on their first date! Sugar mom and dad are sitting on my grandmother's plaid couch covered in fondant upholstery.

Here they are 50 years later - just as cute as they were back then! Since my mom wouldn't let anyone cut into her couch, we all enjoyed cupcakes at the party. My niece created her own way of eating the sugar flowers - ha ha!

Your backyard friends...

2010-09-17T19:03:00.001-04:00

... the Backyardigans!

Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua, Tasha and Austin popped up in the grass to help celebrate a summer birthday. I love the way it looks like they are peeking over a ledge - kind of like Cupcake Hide and Seek!

Only in New York

2010-09-09T22:03:00.001-04:00

This cake is as close to NYC as you can be while still standing in Raleigh, NC - and that was the theme of Gracie's birthday celebration! Her chocolate fudge cake was surrounded by the city skyline and speeding taxi cabs, decorated with posters from her favorite Broadway shows and famous street signs, and topped with a few New York icons - a Coney dog, a slice of Junior's cheesecake, a shopping bag from Bloomingdale's and a box from Tiffany's. Can't you almost hear Liza Minnelli singing? "Start spreading the news..."

A Big Apple Cupcake Party

2010-09-09T20:29:00.000-04:00

These cupcakes were a special part of Gracie's NYC celebration. She and her friends and sisters each created a little bit of the Big Apple to decorate their own pack of yummy treats. I had a great time teaching these girls a few tricks of the trade!

We started with the basics and learned how to work with fondant and gum paste.

Making a Tiffany blue box is pretty easy...

... but it takes patience to make a gum paste bow. No problem for these girls. They were pros right from the start!

Hamming it up with a mini sugar Coney dog!

Making swirls of buttercream... yum!

The finished products were just great!

Another fun cupcake party!

Lots of Flowers

2010-09-03T07:13:00.000-04:00

Flowers just make a cake seem festive. They go with butterflies and mod chocolate swirls...

... you can combine them with scrapbook-style decorations to personalize a cake...

... and they look great all by themselves. Blooms make me happy. I wish the ones in my yard could look this good!

A Library of Children's Favorites

2010-08-24T07:26:00.002-04:00

It's time to post the rest of the story...

You remember our friend, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, from my last post? Well, he and a few friends were invited to a party recently. They arrived on the cake...

Corduroy was there. Even missing a button he made it to the party!

Our friend Brown Bear came too. "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? ..."

Look who he found - the little mouse from Goodnight Moon. He's on every page, you know!

Last, but not least, the Pigeon, Knufflebunny and Curious George jumped up on top. All the birthday twins' favorites... now that's my kind of party theme!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

2010-08-15T07:09:00.001-04:00

In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf. One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and - pop! - out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.

You know what happened next, right? He was hungry and he started to look for some food. He ate through one apple, two pears, three plums...

But he was still hungry. Four strawberries... still hungry!

Five oranges... still hungry!

Finally he hit the jackpot! He ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one salami...

...one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake (mmm!), and one slice of watermelon.

That night (you guessed it!) he had a stomachache. And who wouldn't? The good news is that the caterpillar finally finds some caterpillar food - one nice green leaf. And then he does what caterpillars do best - he becomes a beautiful butterfly. Thanks, Eric Carle, for one of the best children's stories ever.

60 Cents

2010-08-11T06:06:00.001-04:00

Red velvet cake with caramel filling made for a coin collector's 60th birthday. And, yes, there are 60 of those sweet sugar pennies!

Just Beachy

2010-08-11T05:44:00.000-04:00

Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate shells and starfish.... mmmm!